Test-tube holder



{No Model.) I

. W. H. STODDARD.

TEST TUBE HOLDER.

No. 558,433.. Patented Apr. 14:, 1896.

ANnREW a GRAHAM PHmO umO WASH NG'TON 0c I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM II. STODDARD, OF CARLINVILLE, ILLINOIS.

TEST-TU BE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,433, dated April 14, 1896. Application filed March 20, 1895. Serial No. 542,542. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. STODDARD, acitizen of the United States, residing at Carlinville, in the county of Macoupin and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Holder for Test-Tubes, Vials, &c., of which the following is a specification.

The present invention aims to provide a stand or holder for test-tubes, medicine-vials, and objects of similar construction which have a contracted or small base and an extended length, which can be readily formed from sheet material-such as paper, metal, rubber, or the like-so as to present an extended base and central lips to engage with the article to be supported, so as to hold the latter in a vertical or upright position.

The improvement consists, essentially, of a stand or holder of substantially a flaring form, the apex being apertured for the passage of the article to be held in an upright position, and having a series of lips to obtain an extended bearing against the sides of the said article to retain the latter in the required position. The flaring form may assume various shapes and may be circular in outline in horizontal section, in which case it will present the appearance of a cone, or the sides may be straight, thereby providing a pyramidalshaped device, or the said sides may be fluted and provided with alternate inner and outer angles, which will result in the formation of an approximately star-shaped holder.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to the subjoined description and the drawings hereto attached, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of the invention, showing it in use for holding a medicine-vial in a vertical position. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the vial removed. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the blank from which the stand or holder is formed. Fig. 4: shows a pyramidal and Fig. 5 a conical shaped holder or stand. Fig. 6 is a detail view, in section, of the upper portion of the device shown in Fig. '1, illustrating more clearlythe downwardly-extending lips.

The article is designed to be formed from a single blank of sheet material, which may be stamped and struck up in the required form at one operation, or which may be formed from separate pieces of sheet material secured together and fashioned into the desired shape in any convenlent and desired way. The star-shaped holder or stand is preferred, as it admits of its formation from a single blank, which can be cut from a large sheet and simultaneously stamped up into the desired form. Moreover, this form is neater and more attractive in appearance, presents a more extended base, so as to prevent overturning of the article supported thereby, and offers a greater length of base-line for contact and friction within the same limit of space than can be attained with other forms.

The star-shaped holder may comprise any desired number of points 1 according to the caprice of the designerand to suit the particular requirement for which the stand is designed. The blank shown in Fig. 3 will be crimped, so as to form the inner and outer angles 2 and 3 in alternate relation and between which the points 1 are formed. These angles 2 and 3 will be disposed in radial lines, and the folds on which the inner angles 2 are formed will be slitted for a short distance from the center to provide lips 4:, which are deflected so as to provide an opening at the apex or center of the holder or stand for the reception of the vial or other article 5 designed to be supported by the device. These lips 4 may be bent either outward or inward or alternatel that is, the intermediate lips may be bent downward and the alternate lips outward thereby securing an extended bearing-surface at the center of the holder for engagement with the sides of the article to be supported. These lips 4 are slightly elastic, and the opening comprised between them is slightly smaller than the diameter of the article to be supported by the device. Hence when the said article is placed in position the lips will be forced outward and caused to grip the sides of the article and hold the latter firmly, thereby enabling it and the holder to be moved together by grasping either one.

The forms shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are substantially the same, except that one is circular in horizontal section and the other is polygonal, the one appearing as a cone and the other as a pyramid. The lips 4 willbe provided in precisely the same manner as in the holder or stand shown in Flgs. 1 and 2-that is, slits will be formed in the sheet-metal blank and extend from the center outward a short distance in radial or approximately radial lines.

The holder or stand constructed in accordance with the present invention is neat and light and can be cheaply manufactured and can be used as an advertising novelty or labelholder, because the sides present ample space for the reception of any desired advertisingmatter or the names of the article or medicine with which the article is designed to be used.

From what has been said it is obvious that changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

When the holders are constructed from such material as paper, it will be necessary, in order to attain the best possible results, to coat the lips on their engaging surfaces with some adhesive substance whereby a firm and positive attachment may be had between the holder and the article to be supported thereby. The retaining-lips will be coated with an adhesive substance only when the sheet material is not sufliciently stout to cause the retaining-lips to spring outward and grip the article in a firm embrace.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is- 1. A holder or stand for the purposes specified formed from a blank of sheet material which is slitted from a central point outwardly on radial lines for a short distance, and which is fashioned into a flaring between the slits being taining-lips to grip and form, the portions bent to provide reobtain an extended bearing against the sides of the article to be supported by the holder, substantially as described.

2. A holder or stand formed from a blank of sheet material having substantiallya flaring form, and having its sides crimped or fluted, the said crimps being slitted for a short distance from the apex, and having the portions between the slits bent to provide retaining-lips, substantially as, and for the purpose described.

3. A stand or holder approximating the form of a star and constructed from a blank of sheet material having a series of points and which is crimped into the required pattern, said blank having slits extending outwardly on radial lines from a central point for a short distance, and having the portions intermediate of the slits bent to provide retaining-lips, substantially as set forth, for the purpose described.

4. A stand or holder for the purposes set forth, constructed from a blank of sheet material, which is fashioned into a flaring form and which has an opening at the apex, and a series of retaining-lips disposed around the said opening, the intermediate lips being bent downwardly and the alternate lips upwardly to provide extended bearing-surfaces, subforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto. affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM H. ,TODDARD. \Vitnesses:

THEODORE C. LOEHR, FRANK HOBLIT.

stantially as shown and for the purpose set 

